DINOFARTS--Iraq sets new May 18 deadline for gas field bids
Iraq's oil ministry said Tuesday it has postponed the deadline for bids to develop the Akkas gas field, a prized natural gas field in western Iraq, until May 18.
The announcement came two weeks after the previous deadline expired. Authorities did not provide a reason for the postponement on Tuesday.
But the oil ministry last week said in a report that Iraq has been unable to lure enough bids from foreign or local companies for oil and gas projects due to lack of security.
The Akkas field, which has estimated reserves of more than 2.15 trillion cubic feet, is located in the former Sunni insurgent stronghold of Anbar province. Development of the Akkas field could boost the economy in Sunni areas, where support for the government remains tenuous.
Early this year, the ministry said it was negotiating with Royal Dutch Shell PLC to conduct output tests for the field, which has five wells that are ready to be interconnected.
It could produce up to 50 million cubic feet a day as a first stage. That could be increased to 500 million cubic feet a day, which could be pumped through Syria and Turkey to consumers in Europe.
The ministry on Tuesday also postponed until May 18 bids for a separate tender to help construct two oil pipelines to link the Basra oil fields in southern Iraq with Iran's Abadan refinery. The project's aim is to export crude oil and import refined petroleum products through Shatt-al-Arab waterway.
Iraq has the world's third-largest oil reserves with an estimated 115 billion barrels, and it also sits on an estimated 112 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves.
Most of the country's vast petroleum wealth is located in the Kurdish north and the Shiite south.
07.05.2008
AP Baghdad
